Black soldiers in Jim Crow Texas, 1899-1917

by Garna L. Christian

In Jim Crow Texas, black Regular Army units returning victoriously from Cuba and the Philippines collided head-on with local segregation and bigotry. As the soldiers' expectations of dignity and respect met with racial restrictions and indignities from civilian communities, a series of violent episodes erupted. This little-known story, never before told in full, illuminates the collision of racial discrimination with racial pride and reveals once again the petty biases, institutionalized racism, and mutual suspicions that have divided American society. But it is also a story of lofty aspirations too long delayed, of the transformation of a downtrodden race into a self-confident people, and of the noble attempt, however dangerous its means, to realize full citizenship. Black Soldiers in Jim Crow Texas traces the relationship of the four black military regiments - the 24th and 25th Infantries and the 9th and 10th Cavalries - with white civilian communities in the period between the Spani